Blades of Glory (Widescreen Edition)
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Movie Reviews of Blades of Glory (Widescreen Edition)
Movie Review: Great if you want a stupid funny movie
Summary: 4 Stars
If you like Will Ferrell, you'll laugh during this movie. You have the idiotic, physical humor, foot in mouth moments. If you don't like stupid funny, you won't like this. If you want to watch a movie just for entertainment's sake, to not think for an hour and a half, this is a great flick. It's not as good as some other Ferrell flicks but it's a top 5 for me of his works for sure.Movie Review: Another extreme sport lampooned
Summary: 3 Stars
Blades of Glory is very much in the same league as Talledega Nights, for viewers familiar with that movie. Again, Ferrell takes a niche sport and lampoons it with hilariously over the top satire. Whereas Talladega Nights took the Red State staple sport of Nascar Racing, Blades of Glory goes the other way and takes the posturing, ego driven, highly camp world of ice dancing. Ferrell teams up with Jon Heder, most known for his cult success in Napoleon Dynamite, and forges an unlikely partnership. A gamble, as they are two very different comic actors, and the result could have been an ugly oil and water separation, but they hit it off. Playing the parts of two rival champion skaters, Ferrell a swarthy man on blades, Heder a delicate swan like soul, they find themselves disqualified from the sport after an altercation. A downward spiral results, until they discover a way back in - in the pairs event. From here the plot is as predictable as 'School of Rock', but that doesn't detract from the laughs. The unlikely duo grapple with intensive training regimes and forge a bond, until a rival skater pair try to sabotage their progress. The action unfolds in a realistic ice scape of dark cabins, Canadian cities and grabs the attention more than Talledega Nights, even if the plot is not quite so nuanced. The climax - the dreaded Iron Lotus - responsible for several beheadings, is the ultimate close shave for the contestants. Will they succeed? Of course you know they will. But there is laughs in the trying. Recommended. Movie Review: Funny Take on Figure Skating
Summary: 4 Stars
Jimmy MacElroy and Chazz Michael Michaels are long-time figure skating rivals. They are complete opposites - Jimmy was adopted by a man who trained him from a young age to be a champion and is germophobic; Chazz is a boozing sex addict. For the most part, their rivalry is only on the ice, but when they get into a fist fight at a competition they are both banned from skating for life. When a loophole is discovered that will allow them to skate together as pairs, they try to put their rivalry aside to compete again. But not only do they have to try to get along, at least on the ice, they have to deal with their main rivals, brother and sister team Stranz and Fairchild Van Waldenberg who will stop at nothing in their quest for gold.
"Blades of Glory" is a silly, goofy, at times raunchy comedy. It pokes fun at both skating (the costumes, music, routines) and its fans (who act more like they are at a football game instead of a skating competition), but it's not all that edgy. In fact, while Jon Heder at times plays Jimmy as being a bit effeminate, the movie skates around the issue of homosexuality in figure skating by making Chazz a sex addict usually surrounded by several women and giving Jimmy a female love interest. None of the movie is meant to be taken seriously and figure skating purists should ignore everything the movie gets wrong about figure skating (perhaps intentionally). None of the actors are going for Academy awards in this movie and much of the acting (and action) is over the top, but all of the actors seem to be having fun, especially Will Ferrell, Jon Heder, Will Arnett and Amy Poehler. The skating aspects are so-so (no doubt due to the limitations of the cast) but I wish the movie had shown more of the JFK/Marilyn Monroe routine - that could have been hilarious. There are a lot of real life figure skaters in the movie although most of them - Dorothy Hamill, Peggy Fleming, Sasha Cohen, and Nancy Kerrigan - have brief cameos. Scott Hamilton is a riot playing himself announcing the pairs competition.
"Blades of Glory" is funny, but definitely not for a younger audience as it is full of raunchy humor including throwing up after drinking and plenty of crotch shots.
Movie Review: "Chazz Michaels and Jimmy MacElroy ARE figure skating!"--Chazz Michael Michaels
Summary: 4 Stars
Watching rivals Johnny Weir and Evan Lysacek compete in the 2006 Winter Olympics and the 2007 U.S. Championships made me think how cool it would be if there was a nasty rivalry in men's figure skating; one with lots of trash-talking, snubbing, and the occasional shoulder shove. Then this movie came with that cool idea! (Jimmy MacElroy--played by Napolean Dynamite's Jon Heder--even reminds me a little of Weir). Well, I think this film did a good job bringing this idea to life. There are also appearance by
My favorite part of the film was the beginning where MacElroy and Chazz Michael Michaels (Will Farrell) compete in the World Championships with documentary ("mockumentary" is probably a better word) footage of their lives shown between the performances. The mockumentaries were done like the real sports life stories that are broadcast during major sporting events (MacElroy is called "Little Orphan Awesome"). The skating footage is very well-done, especially MacElroy's. It really looks like the actor is doing those jumps (that "galloping peacock" is hilarious). The commentators (Scott Hamilton is one) make the scenes even funnier.
Having the rivals pair up because they were banned for life from singles competition is a unique twist to the basic good guy/bad guy sports adversaries theme. The brother/sister pair who try to cheat their way to win (the Van Waldenbergs) and MacElroy falling for their mistreated younger sister aren't the most unique ideas in the world but the "Iron Lotus" move--which is the most dangerous move in figure skating (people lose their heads over it) and the idea of "Coach" (played by "Coach's" Craig T. Nelson) that only two male skaters can pull it off brings another dimension to the competition.
The ending was a bit contrived and not as good as the beginning, but on the whole, it is an enjoyable film. Fans of legitimate figure skating can look out for appearances by Nancy Kerrigan, Scott Hamilton, Brian Boitano, Dorothy Hamill, and Peggy Fleming. The guy who plays MacElroy's stalker, Hector, (Nick Swardson) also plays Terry, the peculiar employee of Tacos, Tacos, Tacos on one of my favorite shows: Reno 911. He plays the same kind of role here. There's an extra on this DVD called "Hector: Portrait of a Psychofan."
The extras (and there are a lot of them) range from excellent to unwatchable. "The Making of..." is done tongue-in-cheek and gets very annoying at the end. "Arnett & Poehler: A Family Affair" is just plain stupid. "Celebrities on Thin Ice," which shows Farrell and Heder practicing was interesting. "20 Questions with Scott Hamilton" is good. The deleted scenes, however, are very worthwhile. They actually add insight to the characters. Chazz actually knew Jimmy at the orphanage. I wonder why some of these scenes were left out.
Movie Review: GREAT CAST AND SOME FUNNY MOMENTS SAVE THIS FROM DISASTER!
Summary: 3 Stars
I am a fan of most of the people in this film and I was not expecting this to be a masterpiece. It's got some very funny moments and it's barely an hour an a half long so, it's not hard to sit through this goofy comedy. This is not the best we have seen from any of these comics and I guess that is why I'm a little disappointed. It's worth renting or picking up cheap as the DVD transfer is very good and there are some interesting extras. The version I bought was a two disc version but, it doesn't state this on the case. If you like Will Ferrell you'll like this movie.